Bubble-producing flying disk toy system

ABSTRACT

A substantially circular flying disk toy comprising a substantially planar surface and a curved end defining its perimeter, said curved end being fashioned with a plurality of spaced holes on and through the surface of the curved end and substantially across the entire curved end. A portable receptacle for containment of a bubble solution comprising two equal and corresponding three-dimensional sections adapted to be removeably attached to each other to form a closed chamber having an opening on one end, a closure means adapted to removeably fit on said opening, said three-dimensional sections further comprising a depth suitable for dipping of the curved end of a disk-shaped object and a length substantially equal to the diameter of a FRISBEE™-like flying disk toy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed invention relates to toys which have the capability toproduce bubbles when, per their intended use, they are thrown into theair and are caused to spin in flight. The disclosed inventionspecifically relates to a bubble-producing toy system which includes adisk-shaped toy or FRISBEE™-like toy which in its intended use iscapable of producing bubbles when thrown into the air and thereby causedto spin.

Bubble-producing disk toys are not new. For example, U.S. Pat. No.6,231,414 to Ho is directed to a flying toy comprising two substantiallyplanar members having a plurality of holes, a gap between the members,and a liquid reservoir adapted to supply liquid continuously to the gap.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,509 to Riccardi, et. al. is directed to a flyingdisk toy adapted to spray a stored liquid while the toy is in flight,said toy comprising a substantially circular disk-shaped body member, anaxially curved annulus surrounding the body member, a liquid reservoirmeans disposed centrally on the body member, a plurality of outlet meansdisposed continuously around and extending through the curved annulus,and a conduit means disposed on the body member defining a liquiddistribution system for permitting liquid to flow from the liquidreservoir to the outlet means.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,623 to Stein discloses a flying disk toy with ahandle means and a flexible strip of material having apertures on itssurface attached on one of its two ends to the handle means of theflying disk toy. When dipped in a solution, the flexible strip retainssubstantial amounts of the liquid which is converted to a stream ofbubbles when the flying disk toy is caused to fly through the air.

All known prior art involves designs for the bubble-producing disk toywhich include a liquid reservoir means disposed on or in, attached to,or otherwise incorporated into the flying disk. What is needed is asimpler design for a bubble-producing disk toy which does not require anindependent liquid reservoir integrated into the disk. What is needed isa bubble-producing flying disk toy system which is both simple in designand easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed invention is directed to a bubble-producing toy systembased on a flying disk such as but not limited to a FRISBEE™. In use,the disk toy is manually thrown into the air causing the disk toy tospin in flight. The toy may then be caught by a second player who willreturn the flying disk to the first player by throwing the disk into theair in a spinning action in the direction of the first player. The disktoy is substantially circular and has a substantially planar surfacewith a curved end portion defining the perimeter of the disk. The curvedend portion serves as a handle for the toy. Per the disclosed invention,the disk or FRISBEE™ is fashioned with a series of holes disposed on andthrough the thickness of the curved end of the disk. When the curved endof the disk is manually dipped into a soapy solution, the holes captureand retain some of the solution. Then, when the toy is thrown into theair, the centrifugal force of the rotating disk combined with the airpassing past the holes causes bubbles to form and to release at theholes. The stronger the throwing action, the greater is the productionof bubbles. In addition to the flying disk toy fashioned with holes, thedisclosed system includes a lightweight, portable, recloseablereceptacle designed both for containment of a bubble liquid solution aswell as manual dipping of the curved end of the FRISBEE™ or disk toy.When the disk is dipped in the bubble solution, some of the bubblesolution is trapped inside each hole on the lip of the disk of FRISBEE™.When the disk is thrown bubbles are formed and released at the holeslocated on the lip of the perimeter edges of the disk. To make morebubbles, the disk toy must again be manually dipped in the bubblesolution and then manually thrown with a conventional spinning action.

The size of the holes on the curved end surfaces of the disk may bevaried and is limited only by the amount of surface area available onthe curved end of the disk. The shape of the holes per the preferredembodiment is circular or elliptical. Other shapes are possible and areconsidered to be within the scope of the disclosed invention. The numberof holes fashioned on and through the curved end is variable. Per thepreferred embodiment, holes equidistant from each other are fashioned onthe curved end surface substantially across the entire perimeter of thedisk.

To practice the disclosed method for making bubbles using the flyingdisk toy per the disclosed invention, it is necessary to provide abubble solution and a bubble solution receptacle for dipping of theflying disk toy. The disclosed bubble solution receptacle is designed toserve both as a portable bottle with a recloseable cap and adisk-dipping vessel specially suited for dipping the ends of disk-shapedobjects. The preferred embodiment for the solution receptacle is areceptacle which comprises two equal and corresponding half-sectionswhich snap together to form a closed chamber with an opening at one end.The shape of the bottle per the preferred embodiment is such that, whenunsnapped in the middle to create two half-bottle portions, eachhalf-bottle portion has a depth adequate to allow immersion of thecurved ends of the disk fashioned with holes. To supply the disk withbubble solution, the curved end of the disk is dipped in a half-bottleportion and manually rotated to allow immersion of the entire perimeterof the disk in the bubble solution. Per the preferred embodiment, thebottle has a visible marking on its outer surface to indicate themaximum fill level such that when the bottle is unsnapped, eitherhalf-bottle portion has adequate capacity to contain the total volume ofsolution in the bottle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial top view of the preferred embodiment for the flyingdisk toy per the disclosed invention;

FIG. 2 is a side perspective of the preferred embodiment for the disktoy per the disclosed invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section of the curved end of the disk toy per thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a disk toy having both circular and elliptical holesdisposed on the curved end;

FIG. 5 is a side perspective of the preferred embodiment for the bubblesolution receptacle;

FIG. 6 shows a partial top perspective of the preferred embodiment forthe bubble solution receptacle;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the two half-bottle sections per the preferredembodiment;

FIG. 8 is side cross-sectional view of a half-section of the receptacleshowing a disk dipped into the bubble solution

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a partial top view of the preferred embodiment of theflying disk toy. The flying disk toy comprises a substantially circularand planar face 10 and a curved end 20 defining the disk perimeter. Theentire surface of the curved end 20 is fashioned with a series ofspaced-apart holes 30. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the flying disk toyto show that while the flying disk toy is substantially planar it is notcompletely flat. FIG. 3 depicts a cross section of the curved end 20 ofthe flying disk toy to emphasize that the holes 30 are fashionedthroughout the entire thickness of the curved end 20. FIG. 4 shows analternative embodiment of the flying disk toy having both circular holes40 and elliptical holes 50 on the curved end 20.

FIG. 5 depicts a side cross-section of the preferred embodiment for thebubble solution receptacle per the disclosed invention. The receptacle,which per the drawing has been filled with a volume of solution 90,comprises a closed chamber section 60, a neck section 70, and a screw-oncap 80. The receptacle is portable and may be manufactured using anysuitable material such as a plastic.

FIG. 6 is a partial top perspective of the closed solution receptacleemphasizing how the receptacle functions as a portable bottle. FIG. 6shows the cap 80, the chamber section 60, and the mid-chamber line 100which represents the point of junction between the two chamberhalf-sections which are joined together via a snap action or some othersuitable attachment means.

FIG. 7 depicts the two corresponding half-sections 110 of the receptacleafter the receptacle has been opened and converted to a dip pan fordipping of the flying disk toy. Thus in use the receptacle is uncapped,filled with a soapy liquid solution to a recommended fill line visiblymarked on the outside surface of the receptacle, capped, placed on itsside, and finally the top chamber half-section is separated from itscorresponding bottom half-chamber section to expose the liquid solutiontherein.

One possible means of removable attachment of the two chamberhalf-sections is via a snap action as per the preferred embodiment.Alternative suitable means of attachment for the chamber half-sectionsare possible and are considered to be within the scope of the disclosedinvention. The removable attachment means should be such that separatingthe chamber half-sections will not cause undue spillage of the bubblesolution.

FIG. 8 is a side perspective showing the curved handle edge 20 of theflying disk toy immersed in the solution 90 inside a half-chambersection 110.

Alternative, more traditional designs for the portable solutionreceptacle are of course possible and are suitable for use with thedisclosed toy system. For example, a dipping pail or pan with aremovable lid may be used to practice the disclosed invention. However,the preferred embodiment for the receptacle per the disclosed inventioncombines the following two features in a novel way: (1) the kidney-likeshape of the chamber half-sections is an efficient shape optimized fordipping the ends of a FRISBEE™-like disk-shaped object, and (2) theportability of a recloseable bottle.

1. A flying disk toy capable of producing bubbles when caused to spinthrough the air after being dipped in a soapy liquid solution, said toycomprising a substantially circular disk comprising a substantiallyplanar continuous surface with a curved end portion defining theperimeter edge of the disk, said curved end portion further comprising aplurality of spaced holes disposed on and through it and substantiallyacross the entire surface of said curved end portion.
 2. A portable,recloseable receptacle for containment of a liquid solution comprisingtwo equal and corresponding three-dimensional sections adapted to beremoveably attached to each other to form a closed chamber having anopening on one end, a closure means adapted to removeably fit on saidopening, said three-dimensional sections further comprising a depthsuitable for dipping of the curved end of a disk-shaped object.
 3. Amethod for producing bubbles using a flying disk toy comprising thesteps of: providing a flying disk toy comprising a substantiallycircular disk comprising a substantially planar continuous surface witha curved end defining the perimeter edge of the disk, said curved endcomprising a plurality of spaced holes disposed on and through it andsubstantially across its entire surface, providing a liquid solutioncapable of producing bubbles, providing a receptacle for containment ofthe liquid solution, said receptacle being independent of the flyingdisk toy, filling the receptacle with the liquid solution, dipping thecurved end of the disk toy into the receptacle containing the liquidsolution and rotating the curved end in the solution so that allsurfaces of the curved end contact the solution, and throwing the disktoy into the air with a spinning action.
 4. A method for producingbubbles using a flying disk toy comprising the steps of: providing aflying disk toy comprising a substantially circular disk comprising asubstantially planar continuous surface with a curved end defining theperimeter edge of the disk, said curved end comprising a plurality ofspaced holes disposed on and through it and substantially across itsentire surface, providing a liquid solution capable of producingbubbles, providing a portable receptacle for containment of the liquidsolution, said receptacle comprising two equal and correspondingthree-dimensional half-sections adapted to be removeably attached toeach other to form a closed chamber having an opening on one end, aclosure means adapted to removeably fit on said opening, saidthree-dimensional half-sections further comprising a depth suitable fordipping of the curved end of a disk-shaped object, filling thereceptacle with the liquid solution by opening the closure means on saidreceptacle then reclosing said closure means, separating thethree-dimensional half-sections, dipping the curved end of the disk toyinto the three-dimensional half-section containing the liquid solution,rotating the curved end of the disk toy in the solution so that all ofthe surfaces of the curved end are dipped in the solution, and throwingthe disk toy into the air with a spinning action.
 5. A bubble-producingflying disk toy system comprising the combination of the toy per claim 1and the solution receptacle per claim 2.